The EGF-CFC gene family encodes a group of structurally related proteins that serve as important competence factors during early embryogenesis in Xenopus, zebrafish, mice and humans. This multigene family consists of Xenopus FRL-1, zebrafish one-eyed-pinhead (oep ), mouse cripto (Cr-1) and cryptic and human cripto (CR-1) and criptin. FRL-1, oep and mouse cripto are essential for the formation of mesoderm and endoderm and for correct establishment of the embryonic anterior/posterior axis. In addition, oep and cryptic are important for the establishment of left-right asymmetry. In the mouse cryptic is not expressed in adult tissues whereas Cr-1 is expressed at a low level in several different tissues including the mammary gland. In the mammary gland, expression of Cr-1 in the ductal epithelial cells increases during pregnancy and lactation and immunoreactive and biologically active Cr-1 protein can be detected in human milk. Overexpression of a human CR-1 transgene in the mouse mammary gland using an MMTV promoter results in the appearance of ductal hyperplasias in the mammary gland and papillary adenocarcinomas in multiparous female mice. Recombinant mouse or human cripto can enhance cell motility and branching morphogenesis in mouse mammary epithelial cells and in some human tumor cells. These effects are accompanied by an epithelial-mesenchymal transition which is associated with a decrease in beta-catenin adherens function and an increase in vimentin expression. Expression of CR-1 is increased several-fold in human colon, gastric, pancreatic, cervical, ovarian and lung carcinomas and in a variety of different types of mouse and human breast carcinomas. More importantly, this increase in cripto-1 expression can first be detected in premalignant lesions in some of these tissues such as in the breast ( hyperplasias and DCIS ), colon ( adenomas ) and stomach ( intestinal metaplasias ). We have recently identied the Activin ALK4 type 1 receptor as a co-receptor for CR-1 which presents Nodal to ALK4 and thereby can stimulate Smad-2 phosphorylation and transcription through an SBE-luciferase reporter construct.In addition, CR-1 can function through a Nodal and ALK4-independent signaling pathway and activate MAPK, PI-3 kinase and Akt by binding to the GPI-linked heparan sulphate-containing proteoglycan, glypican-1 which can then activate c-src. Activation of MAPK, PI-3 kinase, GSK-3beta and Akt in mammary epithelial cells by CR-1 are required for the ability of CR-1 to stimulate cell proliferation, transformation in vitro, cell migration and to block lactogenic hormone-induced expression of beta-casein and whey acidic protein. In mammary epithelial cells part of these responses may also depend on the ability of CR-1 by activating c-src through glypican-1 the tyrosine transphosphorylation of the erbB-4 and/or FGFR-1 receptors.